Ignorance
There is an excuse for ignorance, but there is no way to avoid the consequences - Edward Deming
The Big Questions
For a while I've been using the questions below to help clients form a vision of what they want, in a way that expands their thinking and tries to remove some of the restrictive beliefs we all have. The challenge with beliefs is they can severely limit the way we think and the results we achieve.
In recently talking with a friend who is doing a bit of soul searching, he gave me the idea of posting these for public reference. If you stumble upon this blog and it helps you out, let me know. I'd love to hear the outcomes.
Spend some reflective time in a quiet place to ponder these. Take notes and see what comes out. After committing some time to this, park it and let it simmer with you. A few days later revisit and see what your brain pops out. Remember …. there are not rules on what is right and what is not.
The Big Questions ...
- What am I really good at?
- What am I passionate about?
- What do I enjoy doing the most?
- If money and time were not limited, what would I do?
- If success was guaranteed, what would I do?
- How can I create the most value for people doing what I enjoy the most and are the best at?
- How much impact can I have on the world? How would I do it?
- What does a legacy look like by my definition?
- What would I have to do to create a legacy?
- If there was one global problem I would like to solve, what would it be?
- If my mission was to impact a billion people, how would I do it?
It's all about Revenue!
If you are a small business particularly just starting out, it is all about revenue. Your accountant will tell you (very wisely) to focus on profit and I’d agree. However when you are trying to grow and get some mass, revenue can be just as important. I’m not saying you should do business for a loss or just for the sake of getting revenue, but I am saying that growing your customer base and getting cash flow going is key.
Of course it also depends what the vision of your business is. If you plan to stay small then the importance of profit goes up. If you want to have a team and enjoy some leverage then the focus of your efforts should be on growth and acquiring revenue.
I make this point because I see many small business owners getting caught up in the day-to-day operations and not spending enough time and effort on sales and marketing.
Think of it this way, if you had enough revenue to hire people to do your operations, then you could spend your time in other areas. And this is the catch 22 for small business. How do you spend time on revenue generation when you also need to spend time on operations? This is not a simple answer and will depend greatly on the business and the owner’s skillsets. The short answer is to get the low skill activities off your plate and free up at least 30% of your time to invest in sales and marketing. Even if you take a short term hit in profits due to the extra expense of an admin person, the time gained will quickly generate far larger profits.
It’s all about Revenue!
If you are a small business particularly just starting out, it is all about revenue. Your accountant will tell you (very wisely) to focus on profit and I’d agree. However when you are trying to grow and get some mass, revenue can be just as important. I’m not saying you should do business for a loss or just for the sake of getting revenue, but I am saying that growing your customer base and getting cash flow going is key.
Of course it also depends what the vision of your business is. If you plan to stay small then the importance of profit goes up. If you want to have a team and enjoy some leverage then the focus of your efforts should be on growth and acquiring revenue.
I make this point because I see many small business owners getting caught up in the day-to-day operations and not spending enough time and effort on sales and marketing.
Think of it this way, if you had enough revenue to hire people to do your operations, then you could spend your time in other areas. And this is the catch 22 for small business. How do you spend time on revenue generation when you also need to spend time on operations? This is not a simple answer and will depend greatly on the business and the owner’s skillsets. The short answer is to get the low skill activities off your plate and free up at least 30% of your time to invest in sales and marketing. Even if you take a short term hit in profits due to the extra expense of an admin person, the time gained will quickly generate far larger profits.
Stress Your Team Out!
Well not really. Check out this short video that talks about why more mistakes happen when things are quiet.